How to Unblock Craigslist with a VPN

Founded in 1995, Craigslist has pioneered the internet marketplace. It allows users to sell and trade goods and services to willing buyers all over the world. It’s taken away the need to post ads in traditional newspapers and put up signs around the neighborhood. It quickly grew in popularity over the years, and has now spread across the world and is now available in 70 countries worldwide. However, some of these countries and business organization have “banned” Craigslist. Thus, making it important for users to learn how to unblock Craigslist.

Why Is Craigslist Banned In Some Places?

There is always somebody who wants to take advantage of a good a thing and ruin it for the others. Unfortunately, some people have used Craigslist as a means to advertise illicit services or sell illegal goods. Some individuals have even used Craigslist to scam people out of their money. As a result, some countries and organizations have blocked Craigslist’s IP address to prevent people from accessing it.

How To Unblock Craigslist With A VPN

A VPN is a Virtual Private Network. Without going into details, they are basically services that mask your computer’s IP address and make it appear to the blocking software that your device is from another country. This allows you to bypass the internet security features of your country or workplace and effectively unblocks access to Craigslist for users.

To mask your IP address and unblock Craigslist on your device, all you need to is select a country from the list. After the connection has been made, then you will be able to browse Craigslist no matter what your workplace rules or country’s limitations are.

Some Other Benefits Of Using A VPN

Besides unblocking access to Craigslist, there are several other benefits to using a VPN. In fact, some of the people who use VPNs the most are sellers who are trying to get around Craigslist’s rules for posting, so that they can get more exposure. Other people just like the added level of security and anonymity.

Remain Anonymous

Hackers can gain access to your identity and location based off of the information provided on your Craigslist post and account. To many people, this is undesirable and even scary. They rely on a VPN to keep their identity and their location safe, secure, and anonymous. This ensures that they don’t become the victim of identity theft or malicious online attacks.

Best VPN services for Craigslist (That Still Work)

There are lots of VPNs on the market today. However, only a few of them actually work well. Many VPNs will make your computer slow and are filled with a lot of extra adware and SPAM that is irritating and hard to get rid of. To make your decision easier, I’ve made a list of my top three favorites.

ExpressVPN

This is my go-to Craigslist VPN service. They’re by far the fastest service that I’ve used, and they have a lot of great features as well. For one, they have IP addresses in 94 different countries, which means that I can fully maintain my anonymity wherever I am.

ExpressVPN also has separate versions for all of my devices; Windows, Mac, Linux, and even Android and iOS. This means that no matter what you’re using to browse and post on Craigslist with, you’ll be safe.

NordVPN

NordVPN is my next favorite. Sometimes I’ll use this instead of ExpressVPN just to change things up. They have more than 5.000 servers in 62 countries. It is simple to use and easy to understand. This is great for people who are new to using a VPN and aren’t very tech savvy. NordVPN is also cheaper than ExpressVPN and you can get it for only $3.99/mo – 2 Years plan.

PureVPN

PureVPN is a great alternative as well, and I’ve used it enough to be able to give them a good recommendation. They offer IP addresses from 140 different countries, and support for most major operating systems, including gaming devices such as PlayStation and Xbox. PureVPN is even endorsed by the New York Times and Cnet, which means that they have a good reputation for reliability.

How To Bypass Craigslist Posting Limit

To prevent spam and repetitive ads, Craigslist has a limit to how many times a user can post within a given amount of time. However, since their website is so busy, many users find that they will post an ad and within hours will be bumped off the first two pages. Once your ad is off the first two pages, the chance of somebody seeing it is very slim.

To combat this, sellers have been using a VPN so that they can repost the same ad under multiple different IP addresses. This allows them to constantly retain a spot on the first page of Craigslist and increases the likelihood of people seeing your post and contacting you.

Once you’ve selected your IP address in another country and your device is connected, then the Craigslist servers will not be able to tell that your post is coming from the same device. To them, it will look like a different user from another location.

Use Your VPN Wisely

As great as VPNs are, I should tell you that Craigslist disapproves of them, and has been known to ban IP addresses that are known VPNs. However, this is just their own company policy. VPNs are by no means illegal or unethical. You’re not breaking the law by using a VPN, and you won’t have to look over your shoulder while doing so.

Why Does Craigslist Block VPN?

The majority of people who use a VPN for Craigslist are doing so for personal privacy to protect their identity. However, this goes both ways and often the people who wish to conceal their identity are the scammers, thieves, and other criminals who are trying to take advantage of other users.

Unfortunately, in recent years that has been a rise in the number of scams, robberies, and even violent assault that occur through Craigslist. A lot of these criminals get away scott free because the victims can’t correctly identify them, and law enforcement agencies are unable to trace their account because they used a VPN to hide their tracks.

With this in perspective, it’s easy to understand why Craigslist doesn’t like VPNs. However, if you’re an ethical, law-abiding citizen, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be able to use a VPN.

Being Smart

If you want to use a VPN without getting caught and permanently blocked, then you need to be smart about the way you use it. This means not taking advantage of it, and participating in activities that will get your account flagged.

Usually, if you’re just trying to mask your identity or unblock Craigslist, nobody will know that you’re using a VPN. The way that most people get flagged is that they use their VPN for excessive posting.

When people go on Craigslist and see five or six identical posts back-to-back, then they’ll know that you’re using a VPN and you’ll most likely get reported. If you are using VPN to bypass Craigslist’s posting limit, just be sure not to overdo it.

Craigslist VPN: Conclusion

If Craigslist is blocked on your device, then the best way to unblock it is to use a VPN service. These also allow sellers to bypass Craigslist’s posting limit, which will enable them to make sure that their post is seen by the right people, and not bumped to the last page. The three VPNs that I recommended in this guide are all services that I have personally used for these purposes and are guaranteed to satisfy your needs, so be sure to check those out first.

4 Comments

No this is not true , Vpns use shared ips – the most effective way to post on CL is the use of dedicated proxies – also in 2018 if you think a simple VPN will stop law enforcement your dreaming – Tor & Tails is your only chance even then it’s chancy TBH.

VPNs such as ExpressVPN, NordVPN that keep no logs are very good in protecting their customers privacy, and most VPNs use shared IPs that is correct, but NordVPN for an additional fee offers a dedicated IPs. Proxies are another method for craigslist, but they are not secure as VPNs, and as for the Tor its slow, not reliable and i would not recommend it to our readers.

It worked when i tried. Please try changing the server, and if that doesn’t help you can always ask for a refund and use another provider. NordVPN is good choice and they have a lot of US based servers.